Recently developed parking assistance systems are capable of undertaking both the lateral control of a motor vehicle by means of the vehicle steering system and also the longitudinal control using control of the gas pedal, brake pedal and gearbox for fully automatically performing a parking maneuver. The driver is still always responsible during this for monitoring the maneuver, for example by continuously operating an activation button.
With such parking assistance systems, certain modes can be provided, for example in the form of a “pause mode” and of an “abort mode.” During the “pause mode” the motor vehicle will be immediately brought to a stop on entering a defined “pause condition” and will be held at a stop by means of the vehicle brakes, which can occur for example if the driver releases the activation button, an object is detected at a greater distance or the passenger door is opened. Once the pause condition is no longer fulfilled, the parking maneuver is resumed. Moreover, the pause mode is typically limited in time, wherein the parking maneuver is aborted after a predefined period of time has elapsed (for example 3 minutes). In the “abort mode” the motor vehicle is immediately brought to a stop and is kept at a stop if an abort condition occurs. This can be the case for example if the driver's door opens, the gear shift is operated or an object is detected in the immediate vicinity of the motor vehicle. In this case the parking brake is preferably operated, such that no resumption of the maneuver is possible. During the parking maneuver itself, typically the stop-start mode is deactivated in order to prevent unwanted switch-off of the engine.
The path of motion or “path” followed by the vehicle during the parking process as well as the final or “parked” position of the motor vehicle in a defined parking space is determined such that the available parking area is used optimally. Thus for example in a relatively small parking space the parked position of the motor vehicle is selected accurately in the center of the parking space, whereas in a larger parking space the positioning of the motor vehicle can be selected for example closer to the vehicle in front.
In certain operating situations, however, the operating modes described above may not provide desired functionality. Thus for example the situation can occur in which a person with restricted mobility (for example an older person, a pregnant woman, a wheelchair user, an injured person etc.) wishes to disembark from the motor vehicle. Because such persons typically need more space to disembark, it can be necessary to fully open the respective vehicle door for this, and a longer period of time may generally also be required by such persons to disembark. Depending on the current ambient conditions, the path provided for the parking process and the strategy provided for orientation of the motor vehicle can prove to be non-optimal. Furthermore, the case can occur in which a pause mode that may be in use is fully deactivated if the disembarkation process lasts too long, so that the driver is then required to complete the maneuver manually. In addition, the engine is running during the entire period of time of the disembarkation process.
Furthermore, for example a situation can also occur in which the driver of a motor vehicle, in which large or long objects (for example furniture, luggage, a refrigerator etc.) are being transported, requires additional space to remove said objects from the vehicle. Removing such objects from the trunk, rear hatch, or tail-gate may require a free space of considerable size to the rear of the motor vehicle. Depending on the respective ambient conditions, the path provided for the parking process (for example when parking in a parked position perpendicular to the road) as well as the strategy for orientation of the motor vehicle can also prove to be non-optimal in this case. Even if the pause mode is used, here too the case can occur in which the parking assistance system is fully deactivated if the driver needs too long a period of time to unload the motor vehicle, so that the driver can also be required in this case to complete the maneuver manually. Furthermore, the engine is also running during the entire unloading process.
In other situations the case can occur in which an automatic transition into the abort mode takes place as a result of certain actions of the driver during the unloading process, for example if the driver operates the parking brake, moves the gear shift into the park position or the driver's door opens.